Unmasked
by SlenderLoris
Summary: He never told them his name.  They knew anyway.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. And after how awesome "Failsafe" was, I don't want to, for fear I would mess it up. You go Greg.**

They were 12 and 14 when Robin first showed Wally his eyes.

The Flash had to talk to Batman about business, and Batman told him and Robin to do a loop around East Gotham while the adults talked. Flash was about to protest, but Batman said it was a slow night, and he and Robin took off without so much as a backward glance.

He _never_ got to patrol by himself, quiet night or not. And how hard could it be? Even Robin had said it was a slow day (night).

They arrested four men for trespassing, assault, and attempted burglary in the first hour.

In the second hour, they took down three people for possession of illegal substances, with suspected plans to distribute them. There was 50 grams of crack cocaine between them.

In the third hour, they interrupted two muggings. It was now 2 AM, and prime time for muggings, as Robin informed him.

The next hour, they stopped a rape.

He wasn't sure he would ever forget the way the woman looked.

Finally, he asked.

"How can you stand it? This city is like a manifestation of hell!" He immediately colored, slightly ashamed of his outburst.

Robin looked at him for a long moment.

"Follow me," the boy said, taking off. He hesitated for a minute, and then followed the boy through muddy streets as the boy swung from building to building.

They stopped at an old warehouse. Robin picked the lock, and pulled him inside. Then Robin stepped back and pulled a small spray bottle out of his utility belt, and carefully applied it to his mask. Then he slowly pulled it off, careful not to tear at his skin.

With a gasp, he saw his best friend's eyes for the first time. It was clear where Robin had gotten his name from.

"There, I don't think I should say this in a mask. Gotham is a city. There is nothing good or evil about her. The only thing that makes her different from every other city on the map is that every one of her citizens has been hurt at some point. And many of them try to hurt others to make up for it. But not all of them. Batman and I….everything we loved was ripped from us in a single moment and we were left to live. But we weren't the only ones. That happens every day here. And I just want to stop it." The boy looked down. "I'm probably going to die trying. But that's ok. Even if I die today, I've already reminded Gothamites that there is good in the world, and that it can defeat evil. And maybe that will help them to do something. Gotham is not good or evil. Some people make it hell. But others…others were just born here, and can't leave. And they deserve someone to fight for them."

Both boys were silent. Finally, Robin gave a weak chuckle.

"I wasn't melodramatic at _all_, was I?" Robin said with a customary smirk. If it was a bit shaky, who would know?

"The whole 'hero-gives-an-impassionate-speech=about-his-fight-against-evil' totally isn't cliché man. I've only seen it in, like, twenty movies." He said, giving his friend a weak punch in the arm.

"Shutup. It wasn't that bad." They sat quietly for a moment, neither of them quite sure what to say.

Suddenly, Robin gets up, stretches, and starts fiddling with his mask, applying a sort of glue he had in his utility belt to it.

"So what's your name?" He asked, excited to finally find out.

"Figure it out on your own, Flash Boy." Sliding his mask back into place, Robin gave him a full Cheshire-cat grin.

"What! I get to see your eyes, but you still won't tell me your I.D.? How is that fair?"

"Deal. Let's go; the night is far from over.

When Wally sees Robin, wearing a suit and no mask, on the cover of _People Magazine_, with the caption "Playboy's Foster Son Richard Grayson Wins Mathlete Competition!", he doesn't say anything.

**Author's Note: I hope you liked it, let me know if you find any errors. Reviews = love.**


	2. Chapter 2

She realized it a day after he let her know in his own particular way.

Her stance (should anyone ask) is that she knew it from the moment that cocky little brat grabbed her for a photo the first day of school. It didn't actually hit her until she saw him in school the next day (she blames the camera flash, overwhelmingly peppy student guide, and _oh yeah_ the GIANT RED ROBOTS INVADING HER BASE (home) for her delayed reaction), but her subconscious figured it out immediately. That's her story, and she's sticking with it.

She had thought Batman had told him to _hide _his I.D. Hide, as in _actually make an effort to keep it secret._

But…

… when she realized that he trusted had her that much, that early, her chest feels tight, just for a minute. And the corners of her mouth turn up in something nearing a genuine smile, not a smirk.

If she were to be truly honest, however, the idea had crossed her mind once before. It hadn't stayed long, but still, it had been there.

It had been on a down night, after a tough mission. She was at home, fletching her arrows, and silently fuming over her mother's decision to send her Gotham Academy (_what gives her the right where has she been all these years where was she when Jade-)._

She wondered how on Earth she had qualified for a Wayne scholarship. Her grades were decent, but her father's training had kept her from ever excelling too much in school. When she was ten, barely five years ago, he had sat her down and informed her that no, she couldn't do well on tests anymore. She was attracting too much attention.

Jerk.

Somehow, she remembered that right around that time (_was it before or after? After maybe) _she had seen a news report about Bruce Wayne (_why couldn't her just leave me be, all my friends are at Gotham North-) _had adopted a little boy, the son of two acrobats. Could it be? He certainly had the money to bankroll Bat's gadgets, and how many Olympic-level acrobats could there possibly be in the city, let alone Olympic-level acrobats who were only thirteen…

No. That was ridiculous. Batman would _never_ be so careless with his secret identity. He was infamous for his paranoia in the caped community. Besides, it was _Bruce Wayne _of all people. That man didn't have a serious bone in his body.

She snorted, and continued what she had been doing, which was fletching her arrows and ignoring the tension between her and her mom.

Hmph. And they say the Nile's just a river in Egypt.

It never crossed her mind that he didn't know she knew. After all, he had all but told her. She never asked though. Somethings don't need to be said out load.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Not mine**

Kaldur had stopped desiring to know his teammate's birth name shortly after the team was formed. He knew it didn't matter. A name only matters when your loved ones call you by it.

At first, of course, he had been intensely curious. Who wouldn't be? Any secret, no matter how small, begs an answer, by definition. And this secret was by no means small. The names of the Dark Knight and his apprentice were one of the great mysteries of the surface world. Speculating on their identities had become a popular pastime, one that had even spread to Atlantis, though it was pursued wit much more enthusiasm in the surface world. How could he help but to be curious?

Still, he did not ask.

But he still did wonder.

Before Independence Day, he had only been working with Aquaman for six months. During that time, he and his mentor had aided the Batman twice, and during those times he had met the Boy Wonder. While he considered him a colleague, he would not presume to call them friends. With the formation of the team, he hoped that would change.

It never did.

He and Robin never became friends. While he had wished to become friends with the secretive hero, he quickly accepted that it was not to be. Besides…

He had always wanted a little brother.

He was delighted when Robin first asked him to spar with him one on one. He knew Robin had mastered several styles of hand-to-hand combat, and was excited to see what he could learn from the boy.

In the end, their sparring matches did teach him a great deal. But they taught him more about Robin than they did fighting techniques.

Robin was smart and mature. Robin was agile and talented. Robin was cheerful and carefree.

These were things anyone could tell you.

But through their almost daily spars, he learned other things about the Boy Wonder.

Robin was a perfectionist. Every hit he took made him grimace and hit harder the next time. At first he had thought he was hurting him, until he realized that no matter how soft the blow, Robin always had the same reaction. After that he stopped pulling his punches.

Robin was _small._ He had known this before, in an intellectual sense, but it hadn't hit him until then. Still, the boy could not be over five feet, short even for the age Robin appeared to be. He suspected there was more to blame for that then just bad genetics, however. He also noticed that the Dynamic Duo were in the paper almost everyday, schoolday or no. He wondered how much sleep was necessary for proper growth, and how much Robin got.

Robin was lonely. This took him the longest to figure out, but all the clues where there. The way he would come straight to the cave after school every day, instead of hanging out with his friends. The looks he would throw at their happily paired up teammates, who were lost in the bliss of young love. His envy when Wally invited Artemis to play Halo, or when Batman came to the cave 'to observe' but talked to Black Canary and Red Tornado the whole time, bringing up files on recently active villains. After any of these, Robin's punches would be harder, his kicks faster.

Realizing that Robin was lonely brought into focus several other things. Why Robin always showed off in front of the team. How the newspapers often got pictures of him, but never Batman. Why he was so determined to be the best.

Robin needed attention.

The day he realized that he suggested that instead of sparring, they go into Happy Harbor for ice cream. The smile that lit up Robin's face was wonderful.

After that he stopped wondering Robin's name.

He knew that for a name to be worth something, you must have people you love to call you by it.

And he suspected that Robin's only family knew him by no other name.

**Authors Note: I hope you enjoyed it, please let me know what you thought!**


End file.
